FaZe Clan won a hard-fought series over Evil Geniuses today to secure the last spot in the IEM Beijing semifinals. All three CSGO maps were close scores, with map three finishing in the first round of overtime. The map set for this series made it an interesting battle.
Nuke
Map one was Nuke, a well-known favorite for FaZe Clan. Nikola “NiKo” Kovac and Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer’s impact on this map can’t be overstated. NiKo came up huge in clutch moments, while olofmeister remained a consistent force throughout the match, resulting in a 16-12 victory for FaZe.
WHAT WAS THAT SECOND AWP SHOT @olofmeister 😱#IEM https://t.co/JCaCtOvQYi pic.twitter.com/DmcxhDf4PL
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) November 8, 2019
Inferno
Inferno was a nail biter for both teams. Just when one team looked dominant over the other, the tables would turn. This happened on five different occasions throughout the map. Evil Geniuses would win four or five rounds straight, then FaZe would fo the same. Rinse and repeat. In the end, EG’s Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte would help secure the map for his team by dropping 26 kills. Evil Geniuses won 16-14.
Dust 2
The infamous Dust 2 would be map three and the decider for the semifinal spot. Evil Geniuses came out of the gate swinging on the terrorist side. They would go on to win 10 rounds, making FaZe look defeated. But their opponents weren’t giving up that easily. FaZe would also go on to win 10 rounds on the terrorist side, making the match 15-15. An overtime would decide our next semifinalist. FaZe showed their incredible resilience and took the map 19-16.
4 perfect @fazeniko expression to tell the story of game 3 between @FaZeClan & @EvilGeniuses. #IEM pic.twitter.com/gGv437Cy4V
— Intel®ExtremeMasters (@IEM) November 8, 2019
FaZe vs Astralis
FaZe now advances to the IEM Beijing semifinals to face off against the Danish super team, Astralis. They will, most likely, find their opponents in Astralis a much greater adversary than Evil Geniuses, despite EG playing very well. Astralis are often regarded as one of the best esports teams in CSGO, and even all of esports as a whole. That is quite the opponent to stand in the way of making it to the grand finals.
The match will begin tomorrow at 5:50 p.m. SGT.
